Stingray: The Complete Series [Blu-ray] [2022]

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Plot: What’s it about? Video: How does it look? Audio: How does it sound? Supplements: What are the extras? Plot: What’s it about? Truth be told, all the characters sport relatively vacant stares, an obstacle that was leavened by cycling through an expressive variety of puppet heads from shot to shot. The greatest hurdle remained the profusion of strings enveloping the marionettes—that those wires are rarely intrusive is a tribute to the diligent folks at the other end of those strings and the craftspeople behind the scenes. The show’s head shop aesthetic was fully-formed right from the start thanks to future Bond special effects artist Derek Meddings, the art direction of Bob Bell, and model-maker Reg Parks, whose stylish creations include the Stingray sub itself, a sleek piece of machinery that borrows its futuristic curves from a toy space gun. Music Video - Richard Taylor made this brand new video for Jerry Riopelle's tune "Hi Gear", which is heard multiple times throughout Stingray. (3 min). Into Action With Troy Tempest/A Trip to Marineville/Marina Speaks: Three 21-minute Mini-Albums, released in 1965, and featuring the original voice artists

Interview with Les Lannom - in this exclusive new video interview, co-star Les Lannom recalls his involvement with Stingray, how a few key action sequences were shot, and some risky choices he made while the camera was rolling. In English, not subtitled. (6 min). Description: Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's much-loved Supermarionation series - their first in color - has been remastered in High Definition from original 35mm film elements for this Blu-ray edition! For decades Stingray has been that Gerry and Sylvia Anderson Supermarionation series usually mentioned after Thunderbirds (the gold standard by which all such series were judged). But Team Anderson couldn’t have got to one without the other, and watching it again after all these years, it’s amazing to see how much of a beta test Stingray was for Thunderbirds.

Side guide

s "making of" featurette, The Thing About Stingray is included here, running 20:21, with thoughts from some of the original crew on how the series was brought about, and its legacy (this was included in A&E's series set). There's also a Gerry Anderson interview, running 12:10, from...I don't know, because there's no date given, no context for the interview, and it obviously just begins and ends in the middle of a taped conversation with Anderson. Interesting...but not particularly helpful. Miss Moneypenny' Lois Maxwell with the Marina character being mute. Network offer optional English subtitles Okay, some of the extras are questionable, such as the truly hideous NTSC alternate opening which is perhaps best lost at the bottom of the sea. Network have finally confirmed what we’ve been hoping for (and they’ve been hinting at) for ages. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s groundbreaking underwater series Stingray is being remastered in high definition for a release on Blu-ray Disc in 2022! Anderson and his colleagues were always far better as technical wizards rather than tellers of compelling tales. And when the eponymous sub unleashed hell via its torpedo tubes, the result is explosive in more ways than one.

Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge.On the Set of Set Sail for Adventure: From the estate of Stingray contributor Alan Fennell, we present some previously unseen home movie footage taken by Alan whilst filming Set Sail For Adventure A ‘Tech Talk’ feature narrated by David Graham in character as Brains from Thunderbirds manages to tie the two shows together in a way which is logical yet still mind-boggling. As well as some vintage ads and rare archive material (including a French version of the end credits, with a version of the song ‘Aqua Marina’ en français), there are also non-visual treats to enjoy, with some audio Stingray adventures. Immensely fun to see a contemporary skit featuring Des O’Connor having an extremely up-close-and-personal encounter with Stingray et al during an off-guard moment. There are three audio-only mini albums included, one of which is ‘Marina Speaks’, featuring the mute heroine. Naturally she’s about as vocal as Harpo Marx or Gromit. Blessed with one of the most exciting opening themes and titles in TV history, not to mention that dreamy closing titles ballad, Stingray is far from sub-standard entertainment. Sorry/not sorry. Watching Stingray now, I can more fully appreciate the extensive effort that went into synching up all the details of the impressive production--not just the marionettes' mouth movements, but all of the effects, including moving the dolls around, the impressive, consistently imaginative production design, and the almost big-screen-worthy direction and editing of these little half-hour sci-fi adventures. With that said, I'm not sure what else I can add to a discussion or evaluation of the show...without sounding like some creepy old weirdo who's taking this all too seriously. Thunderbirds is my childhood touchstone with Gerry Anderson's world, and I have found memories of occasionally catching it when I was quite young. I've seen it a few times since then, and it never fails to entertain me. Briefly. Stingray, which came out the year before Thunderbirds, is less ambitious technically (not only in its half-hour run time, but in the scope of its special effects), but it still satisfies that nostalgia-driven rush of childlike pleasure when an adult viewer sees some cool models and funny-looking puppets moving around in herky-jerky fashion on the TV screen. However, there are remnants of your pop culture history that were perfectly acceptable to watch as a child (my two littlest kids watched Stingray for a couple of episodes--my little girl in particular took to the Barbie doll-like aspects of mute Marina), or cool and cute to watch in your twenties (girlfriends and wives love that "little boy" enthusiasm at that age when you're revisiting something in your past)...but which now feel a tad, um... juvenile when you're pushing 50--no matter how much you loved it when you were a kid (everyone knows that even Gerry Anderson, who always hoped for a big-screen live-action career, was slightly embarrassed having to do what amounted to kiddie shows with dolls).

The fullscreen, 1.37:1 color transfers for Stingray: The Complete Series -- 50th Anniversary Edition look pretty good, with solid-enough color (maybe some fading here and there), a sharpish image, and some occasional screen imperfections, like dirt and scratches.

Stingray is also noteworthy for the refinements made to the Supermarionation process between shows, with the puppet sculpts having more detail, and being more proportionate in comparison to those featured in earlier productions, making the characters seem more defined and realistic. Model work also feels more polished, the design of Stingray itself being a genuine stroke of pop culture iconography. The ‘underwater’ sequences stand up remarkably well, even now. When you have an iconic show like Stingray, rejigging the episodes to form something allegedly more epic is understandable. The high standard of Network’s Anderson releases has been maintained here, and with a tranche of lovely bits of themed paraphernalia (including a Stingray pilot licence, and a book all about the show), this really is one set where the last thing you want to do is stand by with inaction. Anyway, the series is a delight for newcomers and nostalgia fans alike. I can only imagine the amount of 1960s kids who must have spent ages playing with Stingray submarines at bath time.

Of course a feature-length version of the show cut together from the original eps is like taking a bunch of chipolata sausages and mashing them together to form one big one. A sausage is a sausage, regardless of whether it’s in bite-size chunks or a more substantial banger. And while Stingray is very much a product of its time, the picture quality in the latest Blu-ray version is rather good.Interview with Bert Hinchman - in this exclusive new video interview, co-star Bert Hinchman recalls what it was like working with Richard Taylor and the rest of the principal actors in Stingray. In English, not subtitled. (6 min).